There is always the leash and harness possibility. Some cats take to it, if not immediately; others don’t; but it’s worth a try. Though I’d wait till she’s been in the apartment for a while; not more weird things at one time than is unavoidable.
Just make absolutely sure, while she’s still inside, that she can’t get out of the harness; and of course, especially with an escape artist, never leave unattended.
Where are you gonna put the cameras now? No more nocturnal bug mysteries for us to solve? 
Do be careful not to beat yourself up too much @ThelmaLou. It’s fine to feel sad, and a bit lost. It’s not okay to beat yourself up for things you had no hand in creating, such as having to move. Cats are a lot more flexible (well, most of them, and not just physically!) than we give them credit for.
They’ll adapt and in the meantime extort as much extra attention and food as they can from you.
On the side of leashes, one of our cats loves them, and given the opportunity will happily go for walks outside and demand any nearby hooo-mans give him love and attention. Often falling over on his side to sucker them in. I do have to warn passers-by that he is loving, but will flip over into petting induced aggression in short order. Sometimes. But he still gets lots of love when we take him out.
It isn’t anything like walking a dog though, they absolutely still want to go at their own pace and their own direction, and take direction even more poorly than a recalcitrant dog. Thankfully, when they get extra mule-ish, they’re easier to pick up at least.
And people love seeing a cat on a harness, because it’s so comparatively rare. Which means if the cat is an attention hog (one of mine is, one is a recluse) it can be very positive when they have a half dozen people fawning over them.
Hehe. I guess I can always take Candid Camera video of old, white-haired people wandering around loose.
Cats on leashes, eh? EC would probably like it. I think Tikki loves the outside world because there are so many more places to hide than inside.
Yeah, you’re right…
One really nice thing about having your front door open onto a hallway is that it adds an extra layer of indoors in case a cat does slip out. And given how friendly people there seem to be, your neighbors might be willing to keep an eye out or even help you corral a wanderer.
Yes, and since I’m on the second floor, the only way off that floor is by the elevator or a stairway that is behind a closed door. The hallway only leads to other apartments’ front doors.
Another advantage to being on the second floor is that stuff from the outside world won’t get tracked into the apartment by the cats or by people. In this house, and especially when I lived in the country, there were/are always leaves, grass, dirt, and stickers of one kind or another making their way into the carpets, the bare floor, and the laundry. It would not be unusual to find a sticker in a towel or even in one’s panties. I never go barefoot in the house because I don’t want to step on anything. That will not be a problem henceforth.
South Texas has these particularly evil "goat head stickers’ that spring up even in regular lawns that are not kept mowed, but I had acres of them in the country. I remember taking one of my dogs to the vet one time when he got one stuck in his tongue and couldn’t get it out himself. Evil things.
What do y’all think about one of these? Yes, the cats could jump over it if strongly motivated, but it would (I think) deter them from hanging around near the front door and also the kitchen and pantry. (I’m awake at this hour because Tikva got in bed with me and was very restless. Right now she is sticking to me like glue.) I’ve been searching all kinds of tall doorway gates and while this isn’t the tallest one, it has the fewest negative reviews. Also, many of them were $200-$300+. The negative reviews were along the lines of “poor quality,” “came bent,” “you had to install every rung yourself,” and/or “the opening isn’t wide enough for a normal-sized human to get through.” They’re pressure-mounted.
I would install it where the red line is.
Now I have to try to get some sleep, as friends are coming at 10 am to move a carpet and a couple of shelves. I’ll probably have to put Tikva out of the bedroom. I hate to do it, but she likely will not let me sleep. 
Eventually, I hope to sleep again. Someday…
We have a couple of those gates in our house to keep dogs out of the forbidden zone. They’re great! Ours are Top Paw brand, I want to say we paid about $90 some years ago at Petsmart.
Thanks for that!
Something to note: when I bring the cats home from Kitty Jail and let them out of their carriers, I’ll do it in the den. Their zone with food and litter box will be in the closet in the den.* I’ve already taken a carpet from the house that has been here since I moved in-- two dogs and two other cats have left their cooties on it-- so it will smell really familiar. I’m also going to bring another smallish carpet from my current office to add to familiar smells.
They won’t even know that the front door exists until they do some exploring. And then how will they even know that it is a door to the outside? For one thing, there will be no attractive, natural world smells or birdsong coming through the front door of the apartment. It’s just more of what’s in the apartment. EC might go for just general exploration, but I don’t think Tikva will.
* My plan WRT to food and litter box: they’re used to eating up on a counter-- a holdover from my putting the food where my dogs couldn’t get to it. So I plan to place a small table in the den closet with a tablecloth of some sort that goes down to the floor, and put the litter box in that “tent.” Their food dishes will go on top.
We still use our kid gates for occasional dog barriers. They are the kind that are held in a doorframe or at the top/bottom of the stairs by a pressure mechanism. An adept cat could probably leap over them, tho.
Absolutely! But …
And…
Yeah something purpose-built will do better. And I think the strategic location you suggested between the kitchen and living room would be perfect.
Thanks.
There were some 70"-72"-high gates that are specifically designed to stop cats, but they all got too many negative reviews for my comfort. About stability after installation and the opening being too narrow to get through if, say, you’re carrying a basket of laundry. Some said a normal size person has to turn sideways to pass through even if you’re not carrying anything. 
I think, in time, the cats will learn that this is the one door they never pass and when you go out it, you come home smelling of the outdoors. That is when you may need to be careful.
Your plans are good and well thought out, and both cats will probably get used to being indoor cats.
I’m at the apartment-- some friends brought over a carpet. I turned on the hot water and it smells strongly of sulphur. This happened at my house in the country-- had to replace a rod in the hot water heater. Googling confirmed this.
It’s Saturday and what I’m doing in the meantime is running the hot water in the kitchen and bathroom for about an hour. Is that likely to help? Can’t appeal to mgmt til Monday.
My google-fu says about the same, but that emptying the hot-water heater, as this should do, may help in terms of getting rid of anything including bacteria that are tainting the tank, although if it’s actually bacteria they suggest disinfecting the Hot Water Heater as well.
I guess it might also be worth asking if any of the neighbors have similar problems (you could just have a demon infestation after all, and it’s brimstone you’re smelling!) or if the prior resident mentioned the same.
When I was wandering around looking for my storage unit, I met the weekend handyman/quasi-security person, who didn’t have much to do. I told him about the smell and he went right up to the apartment and checked it out. So he might have the problem solved by Monday.
An excellent sign. A good proactive and responsive maintenance team is a wonderful thing. In a building full of old ladies their biggest problem may be “disposing” of all the home-baked goodies they get for their various good deeds. 
Big win. Perhaps you should celebrate with a nap? 
Naaaaap. Naaaaaaaaaaap. Naaaaaaaaaaaaapppppp…
Dang! You read my mind-- what’s left of it. I’m on my way to Napland in about two minutes.
When I was at the apartment this morning, I got on their wifi and ran the Ookla speed test on my kindle. I got a paltry 47-ish Mbps. At home just now on my Gateway, I ran the same test and got 147 Mbps.
At The Home everyone has the same login name, “Resident,” and the same password. Is this good? Am I better off to keep my personal T-Mobile Gateway (for a measly $50/mo)?
I still want the Spectrum basic cable to see if I can get some more stations than I currently get with my indoor antenna, but I can log into either wifi network for web surfing, shopping, and financial stuff, right?
I forgot to take pictures of the wall connections. But I know right now that I’m not going to put my TV(s) in the exact location where the “nipple” is coming out of the wall.
I’ll check back after my nap.